Houseboat



March 25, 1969 R. B. CLYMER Sheet 11p um l,

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#Trae/vins March 25, 1969 R. B. cLYMl-:R 3,434,166

HOUSEBOAT Filed sept. 22. 1967 sheet 2 of 2 United States Patent O 3,434,166 HQUSEBOAT Roger B. Clymer, 108 Marshall St., Boone, Iowa 50036 Filed Sept. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 669,906 Int. Cl. Beb 29/02; B60p 3/34 U.S. Cl. 9--1 8 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Houseboats generally consist of a room portion which is secured to a pair of pontoons or the like. These houseboats are ditiicult to transport over the highways due to the size of the room thereon.

Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a houseboat having a collapsible `room portion provided thereon.

A further object of this invention is to provide a houseboat having a collapsible room portion provided thereon so that the houseboat may be easily transported over the highways.

A further object of this invention is to provide a houseboat having a top deck means which is pivotally secured to a wall means by means of a door at each end thereof.

A further object of this invention is to provide a houseboat having a collapsible room portion provided thereon which is easily moved from its transport position to its operative position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a houseboat which has a collapsible yroom portion provided thereon, the houseboat being completely enclosed when the collapsible room portion has been collapsed for storage or transportation.

A further object of this invention is to provide a houseboat having a collapsible room portion provided thereon, the room portion being maintained in its assembled condition by a door means at each end thereof and a plurality of panel members.

A further object of this invention is to provide a houseboat which is of lightweight construction.

A further object of this invention is to provide a houseboat which is economical of manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent -to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as here-inafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a perspective view of the houseboat in an assembled condition in the water;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the houseboat in an assemblcd condition with portions thereof cut away to more fully illustrate the invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the houseboat with portions thereof cut away to more fully illustrate the invention, the broken lines indicating the manner in which the side panels of the room portion are removed;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view as seen along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view as seen on line 5-5 of FIG. 3 to illustrate the manner in which the side panels are received by the top deck means and the wall means;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the houseboat as seen on lines 6-6 of FIG. 2 illustrating the top deck means in a partially raised position;

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of the houseboat mounted on a trailer means in a transport position;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view as seen along lines 8-8 of FIG. 7 to illustrate the manner in which the top deck means is received by the upper ends of the wall means; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view similar to FIG. 6 which illustrates a modied cable arrangement for raising and lowering the top deck means.

The houseboat of this invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 10 and is seen oating in the water in FIG. 1 and mounted on a trailer 11 for transportation in FIG. 7. The numerals 13 and 15 designate a pair of hollow pontoons having a plurality of stirngers 17 secured thereto and extending therebetween as seen in FIGS. 4 and 6. A floor means 19 is secured to the upper surface of stringers 17 by any convenient means and the stringers 17 and floor means 19 serve to maintain the pontoons 13 and 15 in a spaced relationship with respect to each other. For purposes of description, the houseboat 10 will be described as having a forward end 21 and a rearward end 23. The forward ends of pontoons 13 and 15 have a pair of plates 25 and 27 secured thereto respectively which are designed to add stability to the forward end of the boat.

A wall means 29 is secured to floor means 19 and consists of side walls 31 and 33, front wall 35 and back wall 37. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, front wall 35 is spaced rearwardly from the forward ends of the boat 30 that side walls 31 and 33 extend forwardly therefrom. An inclined wall 39 extends between the forward ends of side walls 31 and 33 as seen in FIG. 6. Front wall 35 is provided with a door opening 41 formed therein and back Wall 37 is provided with a door opening 43 formed therein. A door frame is pivotally secured to front wall 35 within door opening 41 and extends upwardly therefrom when in a vertical position. Likewise, a door frame 47 is pivotally secured to back wall 37 within door opening 43 and extends upwardly therefrom when in a vertical condition. Door frame 45 has a door 49 hingedly mounted therein and door frame 47 has a door S1 hingedly mounted therein to permit access to the interior of the wall means 29. As seen in FIG. 2, door frame 45 is pivotally secured about a horizontal axis to front wall 35 at 53 and 54 while door frame 47 is pivotally secured about a horizontal axis to back wall 37 at 55 and 56.

A top deck means 57 including a top 59, downwardly extending front and rear walls 61 and 63 respectively, and downwardly extending side walls 65 and 67, .is pivotally secured to door frames 45 and 47 at 69, 70 and 71, 72 respectively. A window frame means 103 is hingedly secured to the upper end of back wall 37 at one side of the door 51 by means of a hinge 105 and is hingedly secured at its upper end to top deck means 57 by means of a hinge 107. A window frame means 109 is hingedly secured to the upper end of back wall 37 at the other side of door 51 by means of a hinge 111 and is hingedly secured to top deck means 57 by means of hinge 113. Window frames 103 and 109' are likewise provided at opposite sides of door 49. As seen in FIG. 4, a screen means is mounted in window frame 103 while a screen means 117 is mounted in window frame 109.

As seen in FIG. 8, the lower ends of the downwardly extending walls 61, 63, and 67 are provided with an H-shaped aluminum channel member 73- which is secured thereto by bolts or the like. As also seen in FIG. 8, the upper ends of the walls of the wall means 29 are also provided with an H-shaped channel member 75 secured thereto by bolts or the like which is adapted to engage the channel member in the manner illustrated in FIG. 8 when the top deck means 57 is in a lowered position with respect to the wall means 29.

A pair of pulleys 77 and 79 are secured tothe under side of floor means 19 forwardly of door frame 47 and at opposite sides thereof as best illustrated in FIG. 2. A pair of pulleys 8l and 83 are secured to the under side of floor means y19 forwardly of door frame 45 and at opposite sides thereof as also illustrated in FIG. 2. A cable is secured to the lower end of door frame 47 and extends downwardly through a suitable opening in the floor means 19 and extends around pulley 77 and thence rearwardly to a spring 87 to which it is connected. Spring 87 is secured at its rearward end to a support means 89 and is partially enclosed by a tubular member 91. A cable 93 is also secured to the forward end of spring means 87 and extends forwardly therefrom and around pulley 81, upwardly through a suitable opening in floor 19 and is secured to the lower end of door frame 47 at one side thereof. A cable 95 is secured to the lower end of door frame 47 at the other side thereof and extends downwardly through a suitable opening in the floor means 19, around pulley 79 and thence rearwardly to the forward end of a spring means 97 to which it is connected. Spring means 97 is connected at its rearward end to support 89 and is partially enclosed by a tubular member 99. A cable 101 is secured to the forward end of spring means 97 and extends forwardly therefrom and passes around the forward end of pulley 83 and thence upwardly through a suitable opening in the floor means 89 and is connected to the lower end of door frame 45 at the other side thereof. The various cable and spring arrangement is such that the springs 87 and 97 will be in a substantially relaxed condition when the door frames 45 and 47 are in a vertical position. As the door frames 45 and 47 are pivoted from a vertical position to the position seen in FIG. 6, the springs 87 and 97 will be stretched and will yieldably resist the pivotal movement of the same and will prevent the top deck means from lowering too suddenly. Also, the springs will aid in raising the top deck means due to the fact that the springs, in returning to their relaxed conditions, will counteract the weight of the top deck means.

Top deck means 57 may be maintained in its raised position seen in FIG. 3 by means of suitable pins or the like extending from each of the door frames which will lock the door frames in a vertical position. The top deck means 57 is also aided in maintaining its raised position by corrugated panel members 119 and 121 extending between the channel memlber 73 on side wall 67 of top deck means 57 and channel member 75 provided on the upper Iend of side wall 33 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 5. Panel members 119 and 121 are 'spaced from each other thereby detning a window opening 123. Panels 119 and 121 are maintained in their respective positions by suitable bolt members which extend through the panel member and the side wall 67 of top deck means 57. Likewise, a pair of panel members 119 and 121 are provided at the other side of the houseboat. As seen in FIG. 5, the panel members are merely slidably received between the channel members 73 and 75 and are inserted thereinto from the forward and rearward ends of the top deck means.

A rear deck wall means 127 is provided at the rearward end of the oor means 19 and a motor 129 is secured to support means 89 to propel the boat. The numeral 129 designates a support means which is designed to support a tank 131 containing propane, butane or the like. The

motor 1127 is controlled by various cables 133 extending therefrom to the forward end of the boat.

A modified means for raising and lowering the top deck means is illustrated in FIG. 9 and it can be seen that a winch means 135 has been substituted for the springs and which is controlled by a lever 137. Thus, the door frames can be pivoted by merely controlling the direction of operation of the winch means 135 by the control lever 137. FIG. 7 illustrates the houseboat in a storage or transportation condition and is mounted on the trailer 11 for transportation purposes. The boat 10 is placed in operation by simply placing the boat in the water and raising the top deck means 57 from the position of FIGS. 7 and 8 to the position of FIG. 3. As seen in FIG. 8, the channel members 73 and 75 engage each other when the houseboat is in a collapsed position thereby sealing the interior of the room portion from the elements. When the door frames have been raised to their vertical position, they are locked in position as previously described and the various panel members 119, 119', 121 and 121. are slidably mounted between the lower end of the canopy means and the upper end of the wall means thereby aiding in maintaining the top deck means in its raised position as well as partially enclosing the interior of the room portion which is defined by the wall means 29. Access is gained to the interior of the room portion by means of doors 49 and 51 mounted in door frames 45 and 47 respectively. It can be seen that the size of the houseboat is greatly increased when the top deck means 57 is raised from the position of FIG. 7 to the position of FIG. 3. 'Ihe houseboat is completely enclosed when in the position of FIG. 7 and top deck means 57 may be positively secured to the wall means 29 by means of lsuitable locks or the like to prevent vandalism or the like if the h'ouseboat is` to be l'eft for any -period of time.

Thus it can be seen that a unique houseboat has been provided which occupies a relatively small amount of space when in a transport position but which may be expanded to provide a relatively large room portion when the boat is being used. The pivotal movement of the top means 57 is enhanced by the connection of the door frames 45 and 47 with the springs which permits the houseboat to be collapsed or assembled in a very short time. Preferably, the side walls of wall means 29 and the top deck means 57 should be constructed of a sandwich panel comprised of laluminum Styrofoam and a wood panel laminated as one solid panel. This construction of the top deck means 57 permits the same to support a plurality of sun bathers or the like thereon. 'I'he use of these materials insures that the houseboat will be of light weight construction `so that the device may be easily transported over the highways as well as insuring that the houseboat will be stable in the water. Thus it can be seen that the houseboat accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of -my HOUSEBOAT without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a houseboat,

at least two spaced apart, oatable pontoons,

a floor means operatively secured to said pontoons,

a wall means extending upwardly from said floor means,

and a top deck means operatively pivotally secured to said wall means and being movable from a first position wherein Isaid top deck means engages the upper portion of at least some of said wall means to a second position wherein said top deck means is spaced above the upper portion of said wall means, said wall means including a front wall and a back wall, said front and back walls each having a door frame means pivotally mounted therein and being pivotal about a horizontal axis with respect thereto, said door frame means being pivotally connected intermediate their upper and lower ends to said Walls, said door frame means also being pivotally secured adjacent their upper ends to said top `deck mns.

2. The houseboat of claim 1 wherein a spring means is operatively connected to said door frame means which yieldably resists the pivotal movement of said door frame means from a vertical position to a horiztonal position.

3. The houseboat of claim 1 wherein a winch means is operatively connected to said door frame means for pivotally moving said door frame means.

4. The houseboat of claim 1 wherein said Wall means and said top deck means have channel members 'extending therefrom which engage each other when said to'p deck means is in its rst position.

5. The houseboat of claim 4 wherein a plurality of panel members are slidably mounted in said channel members and extend therebetween when said top deck means is in its second position.

6. The houseboat of claim 1 wherein first and second window frame means are hingedly ysecured to the upper end of said back wall and said top deck means at opposite sides of the door frame means mounted therein and wherein third and fourth window frame means are hingedly secured to the upper end of said front Wall and said top deck means at opposite sides of th'e door frame means mounted therein.

7. The houseboat of claim 1 wherein a rigid door means is hingedly mounted in each of said door frame means.

8. The houseboat of claim 1 wherein said top deck means is comprised of a Styrofoam material and a panel laminated together.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,048,438 8/ 1962 Koch et al. 296-27 3,329,980 7/1967 Doty 9-1 3,356,410 12/ 1967 Taylor 296-27 TRYGVE M. BLIX, Primary Examiner.

U.S. C1. X.R. 296-27 

